


In Regards To Soulmates

by Trixy4Olly



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Romance, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 20:38:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16226900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trixy4Olly/pseuds/Trixy4Olly
Summary: Pain was something Tsukishima Kei was accustomed to, through no fault of his own. Soulmates could be a hassle, considering how often his got themselve hurt.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Haikyuu or any other fandom! I just enjoy writing my fiction here  
> If you see any mistakes, I hope you'll let me know, considering I'm terrible with correcting my mistakes :\

Pain was something Tsukishima Kei was accustomed to. Not on his account, by any means. No, that would be the fault of his so-called soulmate. 

No one could pinpoint when the occurrences of soulmates started, between religion and science, documents regarding the topic had spanned back hundreds of years. A couple of children born with a mutation, and having a soulmate was just another thing after time.

There were many ways one could find their destined other, with the more common ones being colorblind until you meet, or their names on your wrist, and even matching hair strands. His, however, provided more of a hindrance than others he's met.

It started with a bruise he couldn't remember getting, which was suprising, considering he wasn't over-active much, or an almost healed paper cut in an off place. It wasn't until he was around ten years old that he was finally clued in.

Waking up in the night to an immense pain, searing down his leg and around his ankle, he had to go to the emergency room. One family meeting after that, and his parents explained he had a physical soulmate mark. Bruises and cuts, broken bones and strained muscles, all transferred from his other half to him, and vise-versa. His wasn't uncommon, so there was medicine to relieve harsher pain when it was needed.

Because he hadn't broken any bones, he couldn't splint his ankle, but instead he was given a shot of a yellow-like substance that would lessen the pain, as most people with his sort of mark would.

Over the years he had kept his body as uninjured as possible, both to not hinder himself and his soulmate, as well as to not let them know he existed. Considering his personality, rejection was something he was prepared for. 

Since then, he had found bruises on his knees and forearms, courtesy of them. Even though hiding them wasn't that much of a pain, he still disliked putting effort into something as unimportant as long sleeves. Now, however, he wished for some sort of pain, just so he would have an excuse to remove himself from this situation. Namely, two annoying teammates arguing with each other. Again.

"All I'm saying is that if you keep drinking milk like that, you're gonna make yourself sick!"

Apparently they were continuing off from yesterday's conversation of Kageyamas unhealthy avoidance of water. Walking out of the gym, Yamaguchi followed him into the clubroom, and they changed for practice, the shorter one continually making comments Tsukishima ignored.

He prayed for patience, because lord knows he's going to have a headache by the end of the day. Dachi spilt up the team, and they practiced.

Overall, it could have gone worse. Dachi mentioned a training camp towards the end of practice, which hyped up Hinata, and speaking of, the freak duo were to busy arguing to bother him, which he was thankful for. His favorite part of the day, he thought as he walked home with Yamaguchi, was when he made a block, which rebounded and smacked right back into the king's face. Not a bad day indeed.

The rest of the week passed uneventfully, with homework and packing for the camp, with the exception of Hinata and Kageyama being annoyances. It was actually pretty funny to see their faces when they found out they had to stick around for the classes he failed. Three other schools would be attending, which already made him feel exhausted, and he couldn't really be bothered to learn the names of the competitors schools.

As it turns out, while the duo was a bother to deal with, he found himself wishing they had shown up, considering the amount of flying falls and hill runs would be much lower if they were here. The punishments they received took away any other thoughts he might have had. One thing that was for sure, was that his soulmate would be having some serious body pains tomorrow.

Another day or two passed, and, with a few exceptions, they kept losing. His best friend called him out for not trying his best, and he skipped extra practice with his team again. He honestly should have went, because before he could go back to the rooms, he was, once again, taken and pulled into the third gym. Apparently Bokutos manners and personal space radar was nonexistent. He had solace on that at least one of his captors (Akaashi) was sane. He wouldn't call Akaashi his friend exactly, but they shared the same sense of humor, and talked more often than not during practice, mainly to complain about the other two. Originally they had complained about it, until they heard Akaashi giggle quietly about some off hand comment Tsukishima had made.

It was off, he supposed, spending time with people other than Yamaguchi willingly. He sat with them at lunch, and stayed later when he practiced with them. And despite Kuroo and Bokuto's loud and brash personalities, Kuroo was actually quite smart in school, and Bokuto had a dark sense of humor, as he had found out after Akaashi had made a depressing quip and Bokuto had started cackling. All in all, he started enjoying the few moments they had. That was, at least, until now.

Tomorrow was the last day of training camp. The tightness in his shoulders was something he had been accustomed to. His knees screamed at him every flying fall he made, and even his hands had started hurting. More than they should have for the amount of blocks and spikes he had done today. 

It was his last match today. Fukurodani was a formidable opponent, combined with Akaashi's sets and Bokuto's spikes. Even the rest of their team was above par, with their offensive strategy much more sound than the newly made Karasuno. His team was losing, and as much as he hated giving extra effort for something he didn't much care for, he knew if he lost again his body would actually kill him. Tanaka served. Hinata, Kageyama and himself were in the front, against Akaashi, Bokuto, and another spiker. Not the match up he had hoped for. 

The set proceeded smoothly, and the ball was received and set cleanly. Bokuto was going for a straight across against him, not even needing a decoy. His spikes were immensely powerful, and usually overpowered any block they could throw up. And it did. Not having a libero on their current line up, and Dachi's failed receive, the ball loudly pounded off the floor and the whistle blew. That is not what Tsukishima was worried about.

The moment he landed was what went wrong. A searing pain, down his leg, just like when he was a child. Even though it was years ago, and it wasn't even him leg that was broken, he still remembered what that felt like.

He heard yelling, and forced a deep breath in between his clenched teeth. He saw Bokuto on the ground when he opened his eyes. So that's what everyone was yelling about. When he landed, he forced himself to stay standing, but apparently Bokuto had also landed wrong. Bokuto was on his knee, his face turned into a grimace. Despite the pain, Tsukishima still stood. The same, however, could not be said for Akaashi. Both the Fukurodani setter and captain had fallen, and he could see why. Bokuto had shifted off of his leg, so he wasn't putting pressure on his ankle. His ankle, which had twisted in a way that was very clearly not natural.

"Kuroo!" 

Tsukishima grimaced again. The shout came from some brown haired kid on Nekoma's team, and despite the pandemonium in front of him, he turned to see what had happened. Unlike the two boys on the other side of the net, Kuroo had his arm wrapped around his teammate, lifting his leg to keep weight off it, despite no apparent injury. It had been the last match of the night, and none of them had finished. With three members taken to the infirmary, the four team captains decided to lighten the mood and have their teams just have practice instead. It had seemed the majority had reached a conclusion to what had happened. Tsukishima himself, after sitting by the wall, careful to keep his limp from being visible, had also realized what had happened. 

Bokuto had fallen on his ankle incorrectly, and most likely sprained or fractured it. It would take some time to heal, but the amount would depend on how bad it was. He would most definitely be able to play volleyball again. Akaashi, who had been standing after setting for Bokuto, and Kuroo, who had been diving for a receive, had no reason to collapse like that, having not even been landing on their ankles at that point in time. Even Hinata had figured it out. Those three were a triad. Not uncommon for soulmates, but not to commonplace either. After they had been helped to the nurse's office, and after practice had started, Tsukishima had hobbled from his place inside the gym, to the stairs outside, in order to avoid anyone who asked him to help with practice.

He sat down, careful to not jostle his burning ankle, and retied his shoelaces, or at least, that was his excuse to check his ankle. The throbbing was getting worse, now that he had nothing to focus on, but the sharp pangs only happened whenever he walked. He had  landed a split second before Bokuto, having jumped to block him, so there might be a chance that he and Bokuto had both landed badly, and his was better off, considering he had remained standing, but his short inspection yielded no results. His ankle was not swollen, no fractures or breaks. Nothing to show that was out of normal. That, he knew, could be a problem. He needed a plan 

He couldn't play volleyball another day like this, and yet can't treat it the normal way, considering he didn't actually have an injury. He would need an injection on his ankle, just like when he was ten. All schools had the liquid, for happenstances like his own. The only problem was that his newly-found soulmates would be in the nurse's office, and because of allergic reactions being a possibility, they would likely spend the night there as well. Meaning he would have to either suck up the pain until the morning, or get the injection now, and attempt to lie about his situation to them, which would most likely be a failure in itself, considering the others were fairly smart. He shuffled his body into a more comfortable position to avoid his limbs from falling asleep, and the jolt of pain that moved through his leg choose for him.

He grabbed his stuff, sent a glance and a nod to Yamaguchi from outside the doorway, and left. As soon as he was sure he was out of sight from anyone entering or exiting the gyms, he released a breath he didn't know he was holding, and leaned against a nearby tree. Just getting to the nurse's would be harder than he thought, because even if he didn't have a fractured ankle, it sure felt like it.

 


	2. Was That a Smile?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima makes his way to the nurse's office.

It took him almost twenty minutes to get there, as he refused to hop, even if no one was around. He'd rather deal with the pain than be found hopping like a one-legged rabbit. When he reached the door, it was slightly ajar. It was quiet, and he hoped the others were asleep. It would make things a lot easier.

Lady luck was not on his side it appeared, because as soon as he opened the door it let out a high-pitched creeeeek. Bokuto and Kuroo were sitting, wide awake, upright across each other with their cheeks bulged out. Unsurprisingly, they appeared to be in some sort of a competition. Bokuto let out a shout of what he assumed was surprise, when he looked over Kuroo’s shoulder right at Tsukishima.

“Hah! I won!” Kuroo's yell pierced the room, which was surprisingly quiet considering who was in the room. Apparently they had a breath holding contest.

“What are you doing here?” Bokuto asked, looking quite like an owl with the way he tilted his head slightly.

“Look at Tsuki!” Kuroo hollered. “He came to see how you were doing!” Akaashi, who was sitting on the nurse's couch, looked up from his book. He raised an eyebrow, probably expecting an answer to Bokuto's question.

“Actually,” he paused “I came to speak with the nurse.”

“What for?” Tsukishima sent another glance at Akaashi’s continuously curious gaze, before turning to respond to Kuroo.

“You made quite the spectacle in the gym today?” Like he was going to explain the truth as to why he was here. Easier to deflect the question instead. He sat down. Kuroo glanced at the other two in the room, waiting for something apparently. When Akaashi nodded, he turned back to Tsukishima. Clearly they had talked about this beforehand.

“I think it's pretty clear what happened.” Kuroo raised his chin in defiance, obviously waiting for a response from him. An argument, perhaps. While same-sex soulmate pairings are not uncommon, a triad could make things more complex.

The three stared at him, a look in each of their eyes.

Akaashi’s told him that if he made any insolent comment, or tried to say something rotten, he would not hesitate to speak up and argue. He looked protective.

Kuroo looked apprehensive. Like he knew Tsukishima would have a negative answer. He looked like he'd dealt with this before. He was prepared for Tsukishima to yell at him, to make him feel guilty about his feelings. Tsukishima wondered how many times that had happened for him to look so used to it.

Bokuto did not look up. His shoulders were hunched, his hands fiddling with the hem of his shirt. His body language spoke for him. He, like Kuroo, thought Tsukki would cut off whatever tentative feelings of friendship he had and hate them. That thought alone sent a bad feeling into his stomach.

“You're soulbonded.”

He stared. He needed to get this over with. The pain in his ankle, which had dulled for a bit in his distraction, seemed to come back twice fold. He looked at Kuroo, who had moved to Bokuto’s side of the table, where they were sitting from their contest earlier. Kuroos hand was resting on the nape of his back.

He looked at Akaashi, who sat just a few feet from them, leg elevated slightly on the couch with a few pillows. The three of them looked so connected already. It was clear that they hadn't known about each other before this. And he….wasn't like them.

They were clearly supportive, they were going to work through any problems that came their way.They weren't going to abandon one another. They were three males. They played for two separate teams.

Bokuto seemed insecure of his place in their relationship, like he thought he wasn't good enough. Kuroo was bound to feel excluded at points, considering the other two attended the same school together. And Akaashi, while mature for his age, was a year younger than the others, and while that wasn't a big deal once they got older, the other two would be graduating before him, and may put even more stress between them.

All those little problems stacked up. He was one that they didn't need. He would make things worse. He didn't deserve them. Tsukishima licked his lips. They were dry. He swallowed, and spoke.

“I suppose a congratulation is in order?”

At that, Kuroo and Akaashi visibly relaxed. Had they really thought him such a bigot?

“Thank you…”Bokuto's voice startled him.

“For?”

“For not having us.” Bokuto started. “We might not have been friends for long, but your opinion still means something to us.”

“Friends?” He questioned. People didn't call him a friend often. Not the ones who meant it anyways.

“Yeah, you didn't think we were friends? Gotta get better about that.” Bokuto let out a half-smile when he finished talking, along with a shoulder shrug. Tsukishima let out a small chuckle. He stopped as the nurse walked in abruptly.

“You two are staying the night, in case of allergic reactions to the medicine, and you,” she pointed at Akaashi “better not be rough-housing with them! I'll know if your ankle is swollen tomorrow, and you're lucky it's just a minor fracture!”

She must have treated the others before he got here. As case with most medicines involving first timers with soulmates, people generally stayed overnight in case of severe allergic reactions. He let out a small cough, alerting her to his presence.

“Ah! Sorry kid, but no overnight visitors. However you can come back and see them tomorrow first thing in the morning if you like.”

“Actually I was wondering if I could just get some tape for my fingers. I can do them myself.”

He raised his hand and wiggled a few of them, just for show. It was a good excuse as any, considering he couldn't ask for the injection with the others here. And while he could ask for it and say it was in his wrist or something, nothing would happen. He didn't actually have the injury, so only direct application of the medicine would help his pain.

She nodded, and with a “Well if you can do it yourself, I'll go grab some from the spare room across the site.” She left.

He could pull her aside and ask her to do it privately, however with Akaashi’s intellect combined with Bokuto's puppy dog eyes and childish curiosity, the nurse wouldn't even stand a chance. He would just have to come back tomorrow.

He moved to stand up, get ready to leave, but he must have moved to quickly, because as soon as he stood up, he promptly stumbled, and only Kuroo's speed kept him upright.

Whilst he had been sitting, he had been distracted, with the nurse coming in and watching the interaction between the other three. The pain had once again subsided. But standing up so suddenly? He hadn't braced for it and that was swiftly appearing to be a mistake.

“Tripped over your own foot Tsukki?” Kuroo laughed “I thought you were more observant that that!”

“Silly me.” He mumbled under his breath, pushing off of Kuroo so he could stand up straight again, and fixed his glasses.

Agreeing with Kuroo seemed to be the easiest excuse to blame his stumble on. Akaashi's eyes never strayed. He would have to change up his plans.

“Feel better then. I'll see you guys tom-”

“It must have hurt, right?” Akaashi's voice interrupted, sounding static compared to the emotion he had showed earlier. One eyebrow was raised, his arms crossed, and, apparently, when Kuroo had moved to catch him, he had shuffled over towards the door. How could Tsukishima miss an injured person hobbling across the room, he didn't know.

“Me tripping you mean?” He questioned. “Not at all. I didn't even hit the ground.”

“You know that's not what I meant.”

“Akaashi? What are you talking about?” Again, Bokuto's curiosity rears its head up at an inopportune time. “You weren't planning on saying anything?” Akaashi paused for a breath, looking upset and curious at the same time. “Even when I first fell, my concentration had been on you, couldn't you tell?”

Tsukishima had, in fact, noticed Akaashi watching him. He was the tallest opponent on the opposing team. He was set up to block Bokuto. It was the setters job to watch what was happening and form a play accordingly.

“Wait what's going on?” Kuroo finally pitched in, having moved back from catching him.

“There was a slight delay for the pain of Bokuto's ankle, depending on distance.” Akaashi explained. “Because Kuroo was the farthest from Bokuto when he fell, his pain hit after mine did. I was the second closest to Bokuto, having moved back towards the center of the court when I saw that Tsukki might block him.”

"Don't you mean closest Akaashi? You said second closest.”Bokuto pitched in.

“No. I mean I was the second closest. To block Bokuto as best he could, Tsukishima was just a few inches away from him, directly across the net.”

Tsukishima sighed. Akaashi was smarter than he had first anticipated. It was a mistake coming here tonight.

“Akaashi. Please don't-”

“Don't what Tsukki? Tell them the truth? They're smarter than they act.”

A small chorus of 'Hey's!’ echoed between the other two.

“I could see the moment you landed, because I was watching the both of you land. Your leg wobbled and you grimaced. As a setter not much gets by me.” He paused. Akaashi's voice took an angry tone. “So why don't you tell them? They can fill in the blanks. It would be best to do this yourself.”

Clearly, this would not be an easy confrontation.

“If you don't, I will.” The other two were glancing between them, trying to figure out the puzzle of a conversation they were having. If he had no choice, it might be better to come from him. Might lessen the blow, he supposed.

“I'm-”

“I found your tape!”

Thank god. It was the nurse. She handed him the tape.

Akaashi gave him a look, and Tsukishima frowned, looking at the ground. Didn't they realize he was trying to help them?

“Tsukishima-”

“I know.”

Why wasn't he leaving? This was his chance to leave before the confrontation went any further.

“Nurse.”

The door is open. He could leave, and they couldn't stop him, even with the pain in his ankle. She looked up from her desk. She was getting ready to leave, considering how late it was already. The tape in his hand dropped to the floor.

“I need-” he paused, looking up at the three of them. “I need something else.”

He could ruin what they might have together. He could mess up any chance not only of them being friends, but their relationship as well.

“I need some medicine.” He swallowed. His throat felt tight, like he was trying to speak with a hand wrapped around his neck. He put his head down and kept his eyes trained on his feet.

“I need an injection.”

His stomach felt like it was at the top of a roller coaster.

“The one for injury-matched soulmates.” He cleared his throat. No going back now.

“It appears I have a... fracture on my left ankle.”

He looked up, and saw smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I'm not to sure about the ending? My friend looked it over and said it was good but I'm not sure. What do you guys think? Sorry if the chapter seemed a little rushed


End file.
